For years we’ve heard about a hot dog place on Federal Highway in East Boca. Lucky for us Hotdog Opolis just opened a West Boca branch on the north side of Glades Road just west of the Turnpike.
It’s next to the former Grill Time, which closed recently. This is the same plaza as Bagelworks and Party City, and just east of our friends at the International Jewelry Exchange.
The interior is nothing special. You walk up front, order your food, and sit down at some simple tables. This was a “soft opening” and the drinks machine on the left wasn’t working yet. There were cans and bottles in the cooler on the right.
The menu has a lot of choices, with various kinds of hot dogs and sausages, as well as burgers, salads and more. If you click on the image below you should be able to see more detail.
You can order your hot dogs boiled or grilled. We tried a few items, including a large hot dog with Korean toppings, a regular dog with mustard, and onion rings.
The hot dogs themselves were good. We would not do the Korean style again. We just like to experiment and this one wasn’t right for us. The onion rings were nothing special and we wouldn’t order them again, especially not with a $5 price tag.
But that’s just us being picky. We’re glad they’re here and will definitely come back and try some other items.
Here’s a closer look at the Korean dog:
Category: Restaurants
Now Open: Lime Fresh in Shadowood.
There are two new restaurants up and running in West Boca. First up, as we reported last year the new Lime Fresh Mexican Grill has finally opened in Shadowood, next to Sybarite Pig. Back in 2012 we reviewed the Lime Fresh in Promenade and we liked it.
We like the new one too. We’ll start with the interior and more importantly, the exterior. They have a large outdoor seating area that is covered and should be particularly nice once the heat of summer has passed.
Inside it has a similar color scheme and seating as the one in Promenade.
A bit like Tijuana Flats in Mission Bay, there is a sauce bar but it’s noticeably different. There are fewer choices but it’s not just sauces. We especially like the bean thing, and the fresh cilantro is another nice option. Warning: The habanero sauce is very hot.
We only tried a couple dishes. First up was the steak and cheese taco.
Next we tried the steak “Nudie Burrito”, which is basically the inside of a burrito without the tortilla, similar to the Norrito Bowl at Tijuana Flats.
Overall we like Lime Fresh. You might get more food for your money at Tijuana Flats. But you get enough at Lime Fresh. Quantity isn’t everything and we like the quality of the meat at Lime Fresh just a little better. That could be a matter of taste. Chipotle is also nearby and has its fans as well.
Lime Fresh prides themselves on getting the food out fast and they delivered on that. The service is very quick. Overall West Boca is lucky to have three good Mexican options at Glades and 441.
12 Restaurant Inspections in Polo Club Shoppes
For our weekly inspection report we noticed something unusual. There were a lot of inspections in the Polo Club Shoppes plaza (Military Trail north of Clint Moore).
The worst of the bunch was Wok Out, a small Chinese take-out place on the north end of the plaza, next to Brendy’s. Wok Out had 20 violations with 3 marked high priority:
- Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit. … REACH IN COOLER… (Wok Line Cold Table) cooked chicken pieces 67° cooked shrimp 45° sliced bbq pork 45° raw pork sausage 46° raw shrimp 47° (Undercounter) bbq Shrimp 53° AMBIENT TEMPERATURE 50° … WALK IN COOLER … cooked ribs 46° cooked egg rolls 46° raw chicken pieces 47° raw shrimp 47° (cut fresh vegetables – greens, broccoli, onions, celery, green peppers – all 46°) AMBIENT TEMPERATURE 44° … COOK LINE PREP TABLE (To Left of cold Table) sprouts 68° broccoli florets 68° cut cabbage 68° – Being held at Room Temperature. **Warning**
- Small plastic containers of white rice stored in the bulk cooked white rice being held for service in the rice cooker. See stop sale. **Repeat Violation** **Warning**
- Vacuum breaker missing at hose bibb or on fitting/splitter added to hose bibb. … On mop sink. **Warning**
In the world of restaurant inspections this really isn’t too bad. It’s a good sign for all restaurants that this was the worst number of the week. Wok Out had a follow-up the next day that was perfect. Their three previous inspections were all pretty good so we wouldn’t let this bother us if we were customers there.
Second worst in the plaza goes to DD Flats with 19 violations and also 3 high priority:
- Employee handled soiled dishes or utensils and then handled clean dishes or utensils without washing hands. … Dishmachine operator.
- No proof of parasite destruction or aquaculture documentation for cold smoked salmon served raw or undercooked. Fish must be fully cooked or discarded. **Reapeat Violation** **Repeat Violation**
- Raw animal food stored over ready-to-eat food. In walk in cooler, raw shell eggs directly above in-use bottles of iced tea, cheeses, and breads. **Repeat Violation**
They’ve had both good and not-so-good inspections in the past. Most were good, but a year ago they had 17 violations including 4 high priority.
Other Polo Club Shoppes inspections were:
TooJay’s (12 violations)
La Luna and Manhattan Joe’s Pizzeria (9 violations each)
Brendy’s (7)
Subway (5 on 8/18, 3 on follow-up 8/20)
Bangkok Thai (4)
Josef’s Table (2)
Voodoo BBQ had one of the best inspections this week with just one violation involving a missing backflow protector on a mop sink. We’ll call that near perfect.
Delray Beach
The worst of Delray this week isn’t too bad, but Panda Gourmet had 12 violations. Ruven’s had 11, an improvement from the 34 they had back in our May report, but still not great.
On the bright side, Brooklyn Water Bagel in Delray (Military Trail) had a perfect inspection.
Rest of West Boca
Pei Wei on Beracasa got hit with 14 violations. With 6 high priority, a live roach and a stop-sale order this is the worst overall of the week, and certainly the funniest:
- Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food, Cooked shrimp 64°, cut tomatoes 63°, cooked chicken 63°, wontons 60°, chicken salad rolls 63°, sushi rolls 65°, spring rolls 52°, won tons 63°. cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit, reach in cooler on cookline, west side. Stop Sale Issued. Reach in cooler on east side of cookline-raw chicken 45°, raw beef 44°, raw shrimp 45°, cooked chicken 44°. Corrective Action taken, employee iced down. **Warning**
- Raw animal foods not properly separated from one another based upon minimum required cooking temperature in reach-in cooler, raw chicken over raw beef, east side of reach in cooler. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
- Raw animal foods not properly separated from one another based upon minimum required cooking temperature in walk-in cooler, raw chicken over raw pok in walk in cooler. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
- Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found, 1 live roach under prep table in kitchen. Manager killed. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
- Stop Sale issued on potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food due to temperature abuse. **Warning**
- Tracking powder pesticide used inside establishment, under booths in dining room where paper goods are stored. **Warning**
That’s one tough inspector.
There were good inspections for the Taco Bell in Sandalfoot Plaza (3 minor violations) and the Smokey Bones BBQ near Target (3 violations). China Wok in Sandalfoot had 8 violations.
East Boca
The week’s winner was Tomasso’s Pizza with a perfect inspection. We’ve been there a few times and always liked it. It’s on the north side of Palmetto Park just east of I-95.
China One in the plaza behind had 12 violations. Taco Bell did well with three minor violations.
Broward
There were a few inspections south of the border. Most notable was a licensing inspection for the new VIP Grill in the plaza just west of BJ’s Wholesale Club.
Our spreadsheet for this week’s report is below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/allinsp-8-23-2015.pdf”]
Worst Inspection for "Boca's Best Pizza"
Boca’s Best Pizza Bar on Palmetto Park in East Boca was temporarily closed by restaurant inspectors after 21 violations including 8 high priority. One of the “basic” violations may be the worst we’ve seen:
Basic – Dead roaches on premises. Approximately 30 dry rodent droppings inside of liquor room (former bathroom) in next door food prep room that is not on the original palms. **Warning**
And here are the 8 high priority ones:
- Cooked potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food not cooled from 135 degrees Fahrenheit to 41 degrees Fahrenheit within 6 hours, pasta salad 51°, operator stated pasta salad prepped at 11:00 am, discarded at 4:40. Stop Sale issued. Lasagna 71°, operator stated prepped at 11:30 then kept at room temperature. Stop Sale issued. **Warning**
- High Priority – Employee began working with food, handling clean equipment or utensils, or touching unwrapped single-service items without first washing hands. Next door prep room without a hand wash sink. **Warning**
- Live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, or food storage area. In the kitchen and dish wash area near backdoor. **Warning**
- Potentially hazardous (time/temperature control for safety) food cold held at greater than 41 degrees Fahrenheit, cheese 51°, pasta salad 50°, eggs 51°, cut tomatoes 50°, cooked chicken 50°, tuna salad 50°, ham 51°. Operator stated cooler flipped at 2:00 pm, iced down, 3 door True unit, front counter.Corrective Action Taken** **Corrective Action Taken** **Warning**
- Raw animal food stored over cooked food. Raw she’ll eggs over cooked chicken wings in walk in cooler. **Corrected On-Site** **Warning**
- Roach excrement present on certified food manager card and employee training certificates on wall to the kitchen entrance. **Warning**
- Rodent activity present as evidenced by rodent droppings found. Approximately 7 fresh rodent droppings in the next door food prep room under the dry food storage shelve and 2 fresh under the food prep table in the same food prep room. **Warning**
- Sewage / waste water on ground of establishment outside by the backdoor and coming out of the drain pipe near the backdoor running into the soil,rocks in the back alley. **Warning**
There were several problems with “Tastee Express” food trucks with emergency orders recommended on two of them.
Meza Mediterranean (Yamato near the train station) had 20 violations including 5 high priority.
On the bright side of our weekly report, the Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt place in Shadowood had a perfect inspection. Near perfect inspections included Chipotle on Palmetto near Powerline and Packy’s in Logger’s Run Plaza.
Other notables in this week’s report include:
Rise, a popular sushi place on SW 18th, and Orient House Express across the street, each had 16 violations including 3 high priority.
Hong Kong Palace on Powerline had 14 violations including 2 high priority on a call back inspection.
12 violations each for Four Seasons Restaurant on Glades, Bruce’s of Great Neck on 441, and Gramercy Bagels on Jog in Delray.
On Beracasa Way, Nino’s had 10 violations and Pei Wei had 9. Zingers had only 2 violations on a complaint inspection.
Rafina on SW 18th had 4 violations, all minor. Ciluffo’s, nearby, had only 1 minor violation but somehow managed to get a warning. We’re guessing that’s just paperwork.
Our full spreadsheet for the week is below:
[gview file=”https://westbocanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/allinsp-8-16-2015.pdf”]
La Ferme: New Chef and Ownership
Since it opened La Ferme (originally Bistro Gastronomie) has been one of our favorite restaurants in West Boca. From a business perspective it has been a bumpy ride. The original owners under Bistro Gastronomie sold to the Shapiros who renamed it La Ferme. They originally stuck with Chef Walden but later switched to one new chef and maybe another. It’s our understanding the Shapiros did a good job of building up the business and this made it an attractive purchase for the new owner, Alan Luckner.
Farid Oualidi is the new chef. He has been working there for about a year under the previous chef. Here’s an interview with him from back in 2009.
With the latest changes in mind they invited us to visit. Disclosure: Our meal was free.
La Ferme is on the north side of Yamato between 441 and Lyons Road, in the same plaza as Doris Market.
There is a regular menu which is expensive – but worth it, and there is also a “Dining to Dusk” menu. That’s available to 7 pm on most days but only until 6 pm on Friday and Saturday. On that deal you get three courses for $32, though some items may increase that price.
The interior has not changed since our last review.
As usual we enjoyed our meal. We started with the Gougeres appetizer, pieces of bread with Gruyère cheese in the middle, almost like a pastry. It came with so much we didn’t come close to finishing it.
They also brought us out their regular bread basket. We normally don’t mention that but the raisin bread that was included is delicious. The other bread in the basket might have been sourdough.
We also had a Caesar Salad, which was very good. Note that it came with some anchovy on top. If you don’t like that be sure to let them know when you order.
One of the best items we had was the Vichysoisse, a cold soup. It was brilliant. As I ate it I noticed both the creamy texture and hints of various flavors, all going well together. When you order off the regular menu it is topped with some smoked salmon that was very high quality. As we understand it that is not included if you order it off the Dining to Dusk menu.
It’s worth mentioning that the service was excellent. There were multiple staff members coming to our table, refilling water glasses, straightening napkins if someone left the table, clearing plates (and very politely), etc. We were provided fresh silverware for every course. We never had to ask for anything.
We had two entrees. The short ribs is a great dish. The meat is so tender you don’t need a knife. It’s also beautiful to look at:
The filet mignon was wonderful. There was a choice of three sauces and we went with a “spicy” peppercorn. It wasn’t so spicy as to need a warning and it was a great sauce. If there was one weakness that night it was how the steak was cooked. We ordered it medium rare and it was somewhere between medium and medium well. Regardless, it was delicious. I ordered a glass of a French Pinot Noir with the meal and it paired perfectly with the steak.
The filet comes with fries. They’re good but we’d like to see other options for sides with a $42 entree.
We also tried a few desserts. First up was the apple tart with vanilla ice cream. We’ve had this one before and still like it.
Next was the Mousse Cake, and we loved it. The berries it came with were fresh and juicy.
Last was the Double Chocolate Fudge which came with chocolate “barts” on the side. This was also very good.
Overall La Ferme is still one of our favorite restaurants in West Boca. If you’re going out for a special dinner and you’re ready to spend for it, you really can’t do better anywhere nearby. Their only real competition at this level are Armadillo Cafe on Glades and Butcher Block Grill on Powerline, but their menus are so different that it’s hard to compare them.